Comments on: Hens in the City?

By: Tracey Allen

Tracey Allen — Thu, 07 May 2009 15:33:42 +0000

My grandparents used to have chickens [delicious I might add] on Summer Street in town, canned them every fall. I don’t remember anything negative about them.

Crows don’t like pellet guns or starter pistols.

My grandparents, parents, and now our family have always had a backyard garden. When you grow it yourself you know everything about it and nothing from the store could possibly tase better.

Cheers,
Tracey

By: Councillor Rob Lantz

Councillor Rob Lantz — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 20:10:20 +0000

This aired on CBC News Sunday just a few days after I posted this.

http://www.cbc.ca/sunday/2009/03/032909_5.html

By: PFA

PFA — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 20:09:27 +0000

I have to say that I am for the urbanization of agriculture, with all of its’ joys and follies. Foxes in the hen house, racoons eating my crop of corn and the unspeakable joy of eating fresh produce from my garden-cum-front lawn. Beautiful.

By: Councillor Rob Lantz

Councillor Rob Lantz — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 19:38:30 +0000

Many residents in Ward 3 would argue you haven’t lived until you have laid in bed and listened to 10,000 crows directly overhead.

By: Ann

Ann — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 15:34:31 +0000

When I lived in thee country I had a large flock of hens. I loved them and had a great time tending them and enjoying the fresh eggs. But here’s the thing about chickens – they are vermin magnets. You cannot keep a henhouse clean enough to make it unattractive to rodents. And the skunks love the eggs. And certain of the larger mammals are very fond of the chickens themselves. They phrase “fox in the henhouse” didn’t come from nowhere – and you haven’t lived until you have laid in bed and listened to a fox decimate your chicken flock.
So, though I’d love to have chickens myself, I am glad they don’t allow them in town. I’ll get my fresh eggs at the farmer’s market.

By: Peter Rukavina

Peter Rukavina — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 14:31:17 +0000

I’m a big fan of putting the infrastructure of everyday life where it’s more obvious (I though the Waste Watch plant should have been located on the Experimental Farm: we would have ended up with a more beautiful, cleaner plant and would have been forced to confront our waste every day).

So I think urban chickens are a good idea, and I’m sure that with a well-crafted by-law the annoyance-of-neighbours factor could be reduced to a manageable level (i.e. limit the numbers, dictate proper housing standards, etc.).